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“Good design is based on good research.” This phrase shows why UX research is such a crucial part of product development. Research shows that improving UX can increase conversion rates by 200–400%, and every dollar invested in UX can generate up to $100 in revenue. But what exactly is UX research, and why does it matter so much? In this article, we’ll look at what UX research means, the main types of research, why it is important, and how it fits into the product design process.
In this article, we’ll look at what UX research means, the main types of research, why it is important, and how it fits into the product design process.
UX research (user experience research) is about learning how people use your product. It examines their behaviors, needs, and struggles by observing their actions and soliciting feedback. The goal is to see the difference between what you think users need, what they say they need, and what they actually need.
This research gives you the context you need to make smarter design choices. The purpose of UX research is to understand your users well enough to create products built around them. And it’s not only important when launching something new, UX research should continue after launch to keep your product relevant as user needs change.
Once you understand what UX research is, it’s helpful to see how it differs from user research in general. These two terms are often mixed up, but they’re not the same:
Even though the scope is different, both share the same goal: to get to know your users, understand what they need, and design better experiences for them.
After defining the type of research you need, the next step is to choose your approach. At the start of a project, you should decide whether you want to measure something or dive deeper into the reasons behind it. That’s where qualitative and quantitative methods come in.
For example, let’s say you find out that 70% of users who visit the page never send a request through the feedback form. That’s quantitative research — it points out a problem.
To understand why it happens, you might run A/B tests (quantitative) or conduct interviews, focus groups, or usability tests (qualitative). In fact, many people ask: is usability testing qualitative or quantitative? The answer is that it can be both, depending on how you design the study. Using both approaches together gives you the complete picture.
UX research is the process of collecting real-world insights that guide design decisions, instead of relying on guesses or assumptions.
In fact, solid UX research can make or break a project. Skipping it risks wasting weeks or even months on designs that nobody actually wants to use.
We know that UX research is essential for creating a meaningful user experience. Let’s break down three key benefits of doing it.
UX design is all about creating a user-centered product. By researching your audience, you learn their needs, pain points, and interests. This helps you design a product that truly solves their problems and keeps users happy.
Design takes time and resources, and constant redesigns can get expensive. Conducting UX research early helps reduce uncertainty and prevents costly mistakes later. In short, spending time up front saves you from starting over.
The digital market is crowded, and user expectations are always changing. UX research ensures your product stays aligned with what users want. Companies that prioritize UX often see a positive impact on their performance and bottom line.
UX research uses different techniques to learn about users, their behavior, and what they need. Each method gives different insights, so choosing the right one depends on your goal. Below, we’ll explain the most common methods and when to use them.
User interviews are one-on-one conversations where you ask open questions to understand users’ experiences, needs, and behavior. The quality of insights depends on how you ask questions and follow up on answers.
Tips for user interviews:
User interviews are useful both at the beginning of a project to understand your users and their context, and at the end to test usability, gather feedback, and identify areas for improvement.
Field studies (or ethnographic research) happen in the user’s environment instead of a lab. They help you see how people use your product naturally and uncover hidden motivations or challenges.
They are best conducted during discovery to understand user context and behavior, and also during usability testing with prototypes to validate the design in real-world situations.
Focus groups involve a group of people discussing your product, sharing opinions, and exploring ideas. They are useful for learning how users perceive a product and which features matter most.
Tips:
Focus groups are useful early in a project to explore ideas and gather feedback. They can also be conducted after launch to collect opinions for improvements, especially when paired with quantitative methods like Maze for actionable data.
Diary studies ask users to track their interaction with a product over time through notes, photos, or logs. They demonstrate how products integrate into daily life, highlighting both touchpoints and pain points.
Diary options:
They are helpful when exploring habits and routines for a new product, and they can also help improve an existing product by understanding how it is used in real life.
Surveys collect feedback from many users. They can provide quantitative data (numbers, ratings) and qualitative data (open-ended answers).
Tips:
Surveys can be used at any stage to test concepts, gather feedback, or measure user satisfaction.
Card sorting helps organize information in a way that makes sense to users. Participants group topics into categories, either freely (open), with some guidance (hybrid), or into set categories (closed).
It is useful to understand how users perceive and group content, and it can also help create or improve navigation and information architecture.
Tree testing shows users a text-only structure of your site to see if they can find items. It evaluates labeling, navigation, and organization compared to users’ expectations.
It is best used early in design or redesign to fix navigation issues before development, and it can also be conducted alongside card sorting to validate the site structure.
Usability testing watches users complete tasks to see if a design is easy to use. It helps find problems, understand user behavior, and improve the product.
Tips:
Usability testing should be conducted before design, with prototypes, and both before and after product launch to identify problems and improve the product.
Participants see a design for five seconds and share their first impressions. This helps measure how well a design communicates important information quickly.
Five-second testing is especially useful in the early stages of the design research process to evaluate initial concepts and prototypes.
A/B testing compares two or more versions of a feature to see which performs better in engagement, conversions, or other metrics. Users are randomly divided into groups to test different versions.
This testing can be used at any stage to confirm assumptions, choose the better design, and improve performance based on real user data.
Concept testing evaluates a new product idea before building it. It checks feasibility, appeal, and potential success using surveys, interviews, or focus groups.
This testing is useful early in development to assess user interest and understanding, and it can also be conducted before launch for marketing purposes or final adjustments.
Even experienced UX researchers can face challenges. Knowing the common pitfalls and how to handle them is key to successful research.
Misunderstanding or Misrepresenting Users. Sometimes participants don’t match your target users, or their feedback is misinterpreted, leading to skewed conclusions. To avoid this, create detailed user personas based on prior research and use strict screening to recruit participants who fit these personas. During analysis, question your own assumptions, seek multiple perspectives, and support conclusions with direct quotes and observations.
Confirmation bias. This happens when you interpret data to support your existing beliefs instead of listening to what users actually say. Avoid this by treating hypotheses as questions, actively looking for contradictory data, and asking team members to review results with fresh eyes.
Poor Test Design. Unclear tasks, leading questions, or overly long surveys can produce unreliable data. To prevent this, write a clear research plan with objectives, methods, and questions, and pilot test your scripts with a colleague before real sessions.
Time or Bandwidth Constraints. UX research can be time-consuming, and tight deadlines often lead to rushed studies or skipped steps. Start small: even five short interviews can provide meaningful insights. Focus on the highest-risk questions and use fast methods like unmoderated tests or lightweight surveys. Showing stakeholders the value of early research can prevent costly mistakes later.
UX research is essential for creating products that users love. By understanding user needs, behaviors, and pain points, teams can make informed design decisions, avoid costly mistakes, and stay competitive.
Ultimately, good UX research saves time, reduces costs, and leads to more effective, user-centered products.